I was at home depot yesterday and decided to pop into the nursery. Not
much there but I did see a few plants that look like they might work in
my small garden. I'm a novice at this and they didn't have much help
answering questions.....

I saw a plant called a Snapdragon that says it would be good to add
height to a garden. Approx. how tall will this grow and does it need
staking? The picture was not really great and the plant had few blooms
on it now, but when in bloom, are they big, small? It looked to me like
a mini Stocks....??? Is this plant pretty hardy? partial sun/full sun
ect?

Also, I saw some nice pansies. I shy away from them as they just seem so
delicate to me. I tend to like hearty plants as I don't want a garden of
wilted and sorry flowers. Are pansies as fragile as they appear? Could I
use them say, in front of the Snapdragons and mix them with Impatients,
or would the Impatients grow to be too tall and thus be best for any
pansies to be down in front? Are they sun lovers - full/partial ect?

Saw some nice Gerber Daisy's. I think these might look really nice in
some terracotta pots I have, approx. 12 inches at the mouth....approx
how many plants should I put in the pot (assuming they are good in pots)
for a full bunch of flowers? Also, should I put some med. sized rocks in
the bottom of my pots then put the soil over it to allow for drainage?
there is a pre drilled hole in the bottom of the pot, but I'm not sure
if I need to put 12 inches of potting soil in it. Are Gerber Daisy's
fairly easy to care for? Lots of sun, little sun ect.

Finally, I saw two plants I don't know the name of but the ticket said
they would be good for edging. The first had lots of small white flowers
on it. If planted in mass, it looks like snow. The second flower was a
small bloom, about 1/2 the size of an impatient and it was a purplish
blue with a bright yellow speak in the center. Could these be planted
under bushes out front? They would get morning direct sun then indirect
light after 12 noon. the bushes don't hang down as they are trimmed up
very nicely. I thought it would be pretty to have some color, like a mat
of blooms under the green of the bushes....any thoughts?

Thanks
Darby

Also, I saw some nice pansies. I shy away from them as they just seem so
delicate to me. I tend to like hearty plants as I don't want a garden of
wilted and sorry flowers. Are pansies as fragile as they appear?

In a situation that conforms to their needs, pansies are not fragile at all. In
fact, in the right circumstance, a pansy will bloom continuously for 9 months,
longer than any other flowering plant I have grown.

The most important thing about pansies is: they cannot tolerate heat. They can
tolerate cold, including 2 feet of snow. They like sun, as long as they have
cool, moist earth. They won't bloom well in the shade, though they will grow
greenery.

Remove the spent blooms, and they will set new flowers immediately.

I plant pansies in late September, once the heat has declined. They begin to
bloom in the fall. If the winter is unusually warm, they bloom throughout the
winter. If it snows, they simply wait. Once the snow melts, they begin to grow
again. Then, they bloom continuously until July, when they die from the heat.

This is the perfect time to plant pansies, since the weather is just beginning
to warm. If you plant them in pots, try to use non-heat-absorbing pots (such as
white plastic).

Wendy
Wilmington, DE (Zone 7)

Darby Wiggins wrote:

I saw a plant called a Snapdragon that says it would be good to add
height to a garden. Approx. how tall will this grow and does it need
staking? The picture was not really great and the plant had few blooms
on it now, but when in bloom, are they big, small? It looked to me like
a mini Stocks....??? Is this plant pretty hardy? partial sun/full sun
ect?


My experience with snapdragons has been good. I *love* the way they
look, they add some spikiness to the garden and come in some lovely
colors. In our area, they do fine if they get lots of morning sun, but
is in the shade in the afternoon. They don't get very tall, however,
and generally, I've seen them top out some where between 12 -18 inches.


Also, I saw some nice pansies. I shy away from them as they just seem so
delicate to me. I tend to like hearty plants as I don't want a garden of
wilted and sorry flowers. Are pansies as fragile as they appear? Could I
use them say, in front of the Snapdragons and mix them with Impatients,
or would the Impatients grow to be too tall and thus be best for any
pansies to be down in front? Are they sun lovers - full/partial ect?


Pansies are not delicate at all. But, they do best in cool weather. I
don't know if you've noticed, but you'll see lots of pansies in bloom
around here for the next month or two, and then they'll vanish. The
heat in this area stops them from blooming once we really get into
summmer. But, they're wonderful for adding color in the cooler months.

Both pansies and snapdragons are treated as annuals in this area. Even
if you don't buy from them, try popping in on Merrifield to check out
the plants and find out how well they'll do in your little garden. The
folks there generally give good advice.

Suja

Snapdragons come in different types. Some are tall (2 feet or so). Some a=
re
smaller and some are dwarf. I had the later last year. They were nice at =
the
beginning of the season but were cover by other plants later on.

I had pansies last year that were great. I had different colours and they=

brought a lot to my garden with their bright colours. They flourished all=

summer. Because they are not high, they have to be put in the front of th=
e
flowerbeds. They are supposed to be perennials so I hope they come back t=
his
year. Two years ago, we had some pansies in another location. They had to=
o
much sun and heat and they were not as nice.

Fran=E7oise.

Darby Wiggins wrote:

I was at home depot yesterday and decided to pop into the nursery. Not
much there but I did see a few plants that look like they might work in=

my small garden. I'm a novice at this and they didn't have much help
answering questions.....

I saw a plant called a Snapdragon that says it would be good to add
height to a garden. Approx. how tall will this grow and does it need
staking? The picture was not really great and the plant had few blooms
on it now, but when in bloom, are they big, small? It looked to me lik=
e
a mini Stocks....??? Is this plant pretty hardy? partial sun/full sun
ect?

Also, I saw some nice pansies. I shy away from them as they just seem s=
o
delicate to me. I tend to like hearty plants as I don't want a garden o=
f
wilted and sorry flowers. Are pansies as fragile as they appear? Could =
I
use them say, in front of the Snapdragons and mix them with Impatients,=

or would the Impatients grow to be too tall and thus be best for any
pansies to be down in front? Are they sun lovers - full/partial ect?

Saw some nice Gerber Daisy's. I think these might look really nice in
some terracotta pots I have, approx. 12 inches at the mouth....approx
how many plants should I put in the pot (assuming they are good in pots=
)
for a full bunch of flowers? Also, should I put some med. sized rocks i=
n
the bottom of my pots then put the soil over it to allow for drainage?
there is a pre drilled hole in the bottom of the pot, but I'm not sure
if I need to put 12 inches of potting soil in it. Are Gerber Daisy's
fairly easy to care for? Lots of sun, little sun ect.

Finally, I saw two plants I don't know the name of but the ticket said
they would be good for edging. The first had lots of small white flower=
s
on it. If planted in mass, it looks like snow. The second flower was a
small bloom, about 1/2 the size of an impatient and it was a purplish
blue with a bright yellow speak in the center. Could these be planted
under bushes out front? They would get morning direct sun then indirect=

light after 12 noon. the bushes don't hang down as they are trimmed up
very nicely. I thought it would be pretty to have some color, like a ma=
t
of blooms under the green of the bushes....any thoughts?

Thanks
Darby

In article , Darby Wiggins writes:

I saw a plant called a Snapdragon that says it would be good to add
height to a garden. Approx. how tall will this grow and does it need
staking? The picture was not really great and the plant had few blooms
on it now, but when in bloom, are they big, small? It looked to me like
a mini Stocks....??? Is this plant pretty hardy? partial sun/full sun
ect?

Snapdragons are one of the flowers that you can keep in bloom by removing
the spent blooms. Once the petals fall, snip off the flower at the stem. I
usually just use my thumb and first finger as the shears. You want to remove
the flower's ovary as well. Usually by the time the flower falls some bee has
pushed it's way into the dragon and fertilized it, and that causes a round
swelling (the ovary) at the base of the flower. You want to be sure to remove
this too! Once a few of these appear the plant thinks that it's work is done
and happily goes to seed, and dies.

If you are good at keeping after the old flowers, you can keep them blooming
partially till the next freeze, though the flower stalks can get to look a
little leggy after a while, but you can snip them off and others will appear
too.


David Giunti email: unity
What is the question? Gertrude Stein's last words
No one mouth is big enough to utter the whole thing. Alan Watts

On Display in the UK http://www.web-gallery.co.uk

Hello, I had noticed an interesting thing about our snapdragons in the garden, they've been there for about 3 years I think, and there have been 3 colours of different plants: yellow, pink and dark red, and the ones that are coming up now in the same place have all of the colours together in the same flower, I mean each flower has all of the colours of the three!
Just curious to now why it happened, if anyone can help?